Chapter 8: The Unlikely Encounter Part 2

Starfire's Inner Thoughts and Flashback

When we interrupted the crime scene, I could not believe what I just saw. The criminal, who was about to kill the innocent man...was wearing a set of Mandalorian armor. Those who wear that armor, are aggressive to other races. It gives me a chill to see their signature T-shaped visor helmet that covers most of their face. You can not see their emotion from the helmet as they always kept a low profile in the whole galaxy. Maintaining to cover their true identity from others and killing their target from the shadows, these two factors make them be to one of the most deadly warriors for centuries.

Their warlike characteristics are being told as myths and legends across the galaxy. I have heard tales of them when I was a small kid. My father used to tell me stories about them at bedtime. He always began his story by introducing the leader of Mandalorians, the Mandalore. For those who became Mandalore didn't have any royal blood to lead their people. Nor they possessed any extreme ideals like the Chosen People, Pure-blood supremacy, and Ethnocentrism. They welcomed many races to join their creed. However, not everyone can be a Mandalorian. You need to prove your strength and your loyalty to the Mandalore's code of honor. Only those who are qualified with those two conditions can be a true Mandalorian. Once they are being invested with the title of Mandalorian, it allows them to join in their crusade: To conquer the whole galaxy.

But time has changed as many Mandalorians scatted around the galaxy by the defeat of Mandalorian War. They had left their home planet and began their career as a bounty hunter and a mercenary.

I used to be afraid of how violent they were when conquering the galaxy. But inside of me, somewhere, I have found them to be fascinating. I don't know why but I guess their culture and our culture have a connection. We Tamarans are warriors too. Like the Mandalorians, we have our code of honor. Our pride as warriors makes the Tamarans unite with each other to defeat the force of evil.

But we do not invade other races' planet as it violates our peaceful ideal. We use our strength to bring peace. Not domination. It is true, we suffered under the Gordanian's tyranny rule for many years because of my...sister's betrayal. Our innocent thinking towards other races gave us important feedback on re-establishing the Tamaran's army. We have learned the bitter reality of other races that there are people who are friendly and not friendly to us. I was very little when the Gordanian invaded my home planet. I was 6 years old and didn't understand what was going on. I could only remember people's screaming and blasters bolt firing above the sky. My guardian, Galfore took me away to safety into the safe vault along with other children. He told me to be a good girl to stay put until the fight is over. I shook my head down and smiled weakly to show him I am not scared. And when he shut the vault heavily, all I can hear from the outside is men being slaughtered by the Gordanians.

The shouting in fear made me very scared. I could almost feel that I've been living in the vault for days, months, or even worse, years. I was the older kid in the vault so I tried to cheer the other young ones to be happy. But I couldn't. No matter how hard I tried to put a genuine smile at them, it always ended up being a fake smile.

"Smile is the best medicine, Koriand'r." That's what Galfore used to tell me. But if that's true...why couldn't it work when we welcome the Gordanians...?

I couldn't understand...

But then, the next thing I remembered was an explosion busted the vault's door open. It took me by surprise as my heart began to beat rapidly.

Ba Bump, Ba Bump, Ba Bump

We were scared. We couldn't help but feel defenseless against the Gordanian's army. We prepared for the worst to come as we closed our eyes.

"Please...do it quickly. Don't keep us waiting..."I thought.

But strangely enough, we didn't hear the Citadel's voice...we heard a human voice.

"Hey! Are you kids alright?!" the person asked with an echo. Cause the effect from the explosion made our ears ringing.

We opened our eyes and saw the person, wearing a full set of armor. I can't remember clearly as it has been a long time ago. But somehow, I could recall the image blurry. The person's armor was painted in white and had...a T-shaped visor helmet. He slowly approached me by giving his hand. He then told us to...

"COME WITH ME IF YOU WANT TO LIVE...!"

(Back to the present)

"Robin...That killer..." she pointed her finger at the figure "is a Mandalorian!"

"A Mandalorian?" I said. "What is a Mandalorian?"

Then Starfire looked at Robin and replied to his question. "Mandalorians are one of the most deadly warriors in the whole galaxy. Before they became Bounty hunters and mercenaries, they were notorious in conquering galaxy for many centuries. I have heard about them when I was a kid."

"So you are saying..." Cyborg said. "They are like the Space Vikings then."

Starfire nodded. "Yes, Cyborg."

"Space Vikings?" Beast Boy asked. He looked at the killer and began to fantasize about the Space Viking's battle inside his head like a movie. He imagined that he was sitting on the front row while eating some junk food. He looked up at the big screen and felt amazed at how the Space Vikings fought bravely in such a deadly battle. It gave him the adrenalin as he slowly began to admire the Mandalorians.

"That's so cool!" he shouted. "Maybe I could ask him for an autograph-"

Raven slapped the back of Beast Boy to stop fooling around. "Can it Beast Boy."

"S-Sorry Raven..." he apologized to the goth girl.

The killer looked at them with great interest as one of them (especially, Starfire) knew who he is. He raised his one eyebrow beneath his helmet. "I didn't know Earthlings know my affiliation. I thought this planet was primitive to aliens."

This made the Titans be surprised when the killer spoke in English with a New Zealand accent.

"Wow! You can speak English?!" Cyborg asked.

"English? You Earthlings named this language English?" The killer replied. "Hmph, Interesting. Where I came from we called it Basic. Because it's a basic language for all races to use it."

"Oh, I see." Cyborg was convinced by the killer's answer. "Then why do you have a New Zealand accent?"

"What's that?"

"Well, it's a-" when Cyborg was about to answer the Killer's question, Robin butted in the conversation.

"We are not here to talk with you, criminal. We are here to stop you." the leader said it strongly as he gets ready to fight. "Put your weapons down and let him go!"

"No can do kid." the Killer replied. "I have a job to do. I only need to know where he hid the cargo."

"Then we are going to put you down for good. TITANS GO!" the leader ordered his Titans to attack as they pounced on the Killer liked a herd of lions. But Starfire didn't join the fight as she stood behind them, shouting at his friends to stop.

"Friends don't! You should not fight with him!" She tried to warn them but it was too late as the battle had already begun.

The killer jumped back before the Titans could grab onto him. He began to shoot at the Titans with his two blaster pistols, making a rain of blaster bolts. Robin and Cyborg took cover as Beast Boy changed into a hawk and he flew up into mid-air. Raven followed Beast Boy and chanted her signature spell on Beast Boy to give him an energy shield to reflect the blaster bolts.

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos!"

When the energy shield was summoned, Beast Boy dived into the Killer to deliver an aerial attack. The killer knew that the enemy will charge a body blow onto him. He quickly rolled to the side to avoid the incoming attack and brought up his carbonite grenade to freeze Beast Boy's attacks. Beast Boy received the carbonite grenade and got his body frozen.

"H-Huh?! What is this?!" he yelled as he crashed into the wall. He turned back to his human form to break free but the carbonite froze was as hard as a rock. The killer then looked at Raven and began to concentrate firing at her. Raven avoided all the blaster bolts and chanted the spell again as she lifted the nearby objects to attack the enemy.

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos!The projectiles went flying towards the Mandalorian as fast as a bullet train. He tried to dodge all the attacks, but he got hit by the last object in the head.

"AHH!" he yelled as he felt a slight jolt inside his helmet. He shook his head to let go off the shock, so he could resume shooting at the goth girl immediately. But when he gained back his consciousness, he soon met a fury attack from the Boy Wonder.

"Hiya! Ha!" Robin performed his Kung Fu moves as he began his Close-quarter combats with the enemy. He disarmed both of the Mandalorian's blaster pistols and did a Judo throw over his shoulder. The Mandalorian was being thrown into the pillar, leaving a crack.

"Oww...!" he yelled in pain. He tried to get up quickly before the Boy Wonder attacked him one more time with his martial art skills. But the next attack wasn't from Robin. Instead, it was from Cyborg's sonic cannon.

"HAAAA!"

"AHHH!"

Cyborg's sonic cannon had delivered a big blow into the Mandalorina's chest. It made the killer went flying across the wall.

"Like my sonic cannon, Mandalorian? I hope this one leaves you a mark on your chest." Cyborg said to him with a smirk.

Behind the mechanic teenager, Robin, Raven, and Beast Boy who had finally broken free from the carbonite freeze, caught up with Cyborg's attack. They slowly approached the fallen Mandalorian as they get ready to pin him down. But that didn't happen when the Mandalorian threw a smoke grenade to blur their sights.

When the smoke erupted right in front of the Titan's eyes, the Mandalorian then quickly set up a "surprise" for them.

After the smoke was cleared, the killer wasn't there.

"Where is he?!" Beast Boy asked.

Robin then soon thinks that he has escaped into the Underworld City."He must have escaped to the Underworld City! Come on, guys! Let's-"

BOOM!

An explosive erupted from above as the ceiling fell on top of them. It delivered a massive pain on their body as they are being buried under the debris of cement. They could not move or feel their body as they moaned in agony.

"Ow...what happened?" Robin asked. He was the only one who got his sense back. He looked around him and at himself to see he is being buried. He then looked at his buried friends. "Cyborg...Beast Boy...Raven..."

He called out their name, hoping they could answer him back. But the only answer they could reply was silent.

"I...need to...save..." he used his full might to get out from the debris but it was too heavy for a teenager to get out. While he was busy getting out of the debris, he could hear footsteps coming towards him. He faced up and saw the killer ignited his flamethrower from his wrist.

"You Earthlings had my target escaped. Now I need to find him where he went...after I cook you all up." he aimed at Robin's forehead to fry him up but he was soon got interrupted by a flying princess: Starfire.

"NO YOU WON'T" she yelled as she sent the Mandalorian flying away across the wall again by ramming into his torso. She kept holding onto the killer's body when she charged a body blow. Her flying speed gave her the momentum to increase the damage by crashing into many layers of walls.

After that, she let go of the Mandalorian's body into the mid-air as she fired her signature attack: Blasting him up with her green-colored plasma bolts. She fired non-stop.

"HA! HA! HA! HA!"

"AHHH!" The Mandalorian cried in pain as he received many plasma bolts from the alien princess.

When it's over, Starfire grabbed his body again and performed a Front Facelock Suplex on the ground.

BAM!

It sent a massive shock wave around the area as it made a big crack like a crater.

"Ow..." the Mandalorian cried in pain as he lay down on the crater.

Starfire soon stood up from the ground and flashed her plasma bolts from her hands. He aimed at the Mandalorian's head, warning him not to move.

"Please surrender Mandalorian. I do not want to hurt you," she said.

He gave a questioning look beneath his helmet as he looked up at Starfire. "You don't want...to hurt me...? Why?"

"Because you people have done an honorable action during the Siege of Tamaran."

"Tamaran? Wait. You are a Tamarian?" He asked with a bit of a surprise.

Starfire nodded as she stopped glowing her hands. She then offered her hand to help him stand up. "If you come with me peacefully, I won't put you into Earth's jail. You Mandalorians have saved my home planet from being destroyed. I know some Mandalorians do not have a good sense of morality but the Mandalorians I met when I was a kid were all honorable warriors. And I hope you are one of them. Maybe we can find a way atone your crime. So please...surrender."

The Mandalorian looked at her hand curiously. He wondered if she is telling the truth. If it is, then he should take her hand. He slowly grabbed her hand and stood up. But before he stood on his feet...he stabbed in her lower abs with a poisonous dart.

"AHH!" she whimpered in pain as she felt body weak. She fell on the ground on her back and began to cough as she threw out blood from her mouth. She can not breathe properly as her sight went almost dark. She looked at the standing Mandalorian and tried to ask "Why did you stab me?". But she could not as she lost her strength to say it.

The Mandalorian smirked beneath his helmet as he holds his lower stomach painfully. The impact of Starfire's attack could barley make the killer stand up straight without falling.

"You...Tamarian are so...innocent about us," he said. "We don't surrender to an enemy. We rather die in the fight! And I don't know nothing about the siege of Tamaran."

He pulled out Canderous Ordo's repeating heavy blaster and aimed weakly at Starfire's head. "But this time...I survive this battle!" He rested his finger on the trigger and was about to shoot his heavy blaster. But that didn't happen when his head suddenly recalled some old forgotten memories.

The memories came flashing into his eyes like a slideshow. All the pictures he saw from the flashback halted his finger to pull.

"W-WHAT?! WHAT IS THIS?! WHY CAN I NOT KILL HER?!" he grumbled loudly. He used his full might to move his finger to kill her but for some reason, it didn't allow him to do it. He then heard a voice inside his head with an echo.

"Protect her Kaiyu...You...are her bodyguard..."

When you hear someone saying to you in an echo tone, you will normally reject what the person said. But this voice was different. It because he had heard this voice before when he was a kid. The voice...who had disappeared many years ago.

"Son..."

"...F-Father?!" the Mandalorian said. He looked around to see if his father is here in the area. But he couldn't as he took a quick blow into the back of his head. He fell down on the ground as he sights gone hazy. Before he lost his consciousness, he could remember seeing the Boy Wonder and the other Titans running over to Starfire.

"Starfire...Starfire...?!"